Researchers at Integra Lab have worked extensively with the late British composer Jonathan Harvey to modernise the electronics of his works, and migrate them from obsolete hardware technologies (synthesisers, samplers, effect processors, etc.) to software-based solutions.

Works that we have ‘modernised’ include Valley of Aosta, performed by the Thallein Ensemble in March 2009 in the Adrian Boult Hall, From Silence performed by Thallein Ensemble a first time in 2002 and again in March 2015 as part of Birmingham Conservatoire’s Frontiers Festival, Soleil Noir/Chitra, performed in 2004. Additionally, as part of the Harvey migrations of the Integra project, we prepared new versions of the electronics of Wheel of Emptiness, performed by the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group at the Integra 2008 Festival, White as Jasmine, and Ricercare una melodia.

The largest work by Jonathan Harvey that we modernised was Madonna of Winter and Spring, composed in 1986 and featuring full orchestra,Yamaha TX816 for synthesis, a DX1 for controlling the TX816, and an E-mu II sampler for sample playback. These technologies are now near-obsolete and their use entails substantial additional performance costs in terms of equipment hire and setup time. Using old technology also poses reliability problems.

Between 2005 and 2011 Integra Lab worked to update the electronic elements of the work so that it could be performed using standard modern computers and controllers. This resulted in a fully updated, free and open source system, provided to the publisher, Faber Music, in 2011. This enabled the subsequent performance of the work at London’s Barbican Centre in January 2012 by the BBC Symphony Orchestra as part of their Total Immersion series and broadcast to a worldwide audience on BBC Radio 3’s Hear and Now programme.

The performance received critical acclaim, with the Classical Source referring to the work as a ‘welcome revival’ with the digitally emulated electronics sounding ‘of their time’. The Senior New Music Editor of Faber Music cites the project as providing ‘far-reaching benefits for publishers (and audiences) by rescuing works that cannot be performed due to technological obsolescence and ensuring the long-term sustainability of live electronics.